Cimabue (Italian Journey no. 8)

Perfume heaven. I've been looking for the ultimate Christmas perfume and I do believe I need look no further! From top to bottom this is a deliciously warm tangy/spicy gourmand.The spices are smooth and sweet (a lovely blend, but cinnamon is maybe most present) the orange citrus rich and authentic and there's a comforting milky/nutty depth reminiscent of rice pudding or basmati laced with saffron, but never veering toward sickly. Most gourmands are sickly sweet and one-dimensional, then there are others with a more balanced savoury bite, such as Jeux de Peux, Omnia or Theorema, but even those left me wanting something more rich and complex. The balance of Cimabue is perfect, between comforting, sweet/tart and spicy/soft. As it develops into dry-down it's slightly less gourmand and the florals make an appearance, particularly the peppery carnation which complements the soft spices perfectly, and a subtle chewy beeswaxy honey that lends a skin-scent slightly animalic feel. There are so many notes in this but throughout its development it retains its nutty warm spicy citrus heart. I can't imagine anything more suited to the traditional smells of Christmas - mulled wine, orange studded cloves and lashings of brandy butter on your Christmas pudding!

I have been longing for the perfect spice cake perfume and Cimabue is as close as I've come. It begins just slightly savory before settling down as a delicious, though linear, spicy gourmand. One of my favorite types of cookies to make, all year round but especially in the fall, is soft ginger molasses cookies and Cimabue smells a lot like the dough. So many scents containing cinnamon go the dreaded craft store and candle route, but thankfully that is just missed here. Sadly, the longevity is kind of bad and I'm not even a strong frag fan. I'd happily purchase a full size if it lasted more than an hour or two on my skin, but at the price, I can't foresee getting more than a travel size bottle. I appreciate how Dawn uses abundant naturals in her blends, you really can tell the difference if you are sensitive, but unfortunately the strength can suffer because of it.

Love this. There was a flit of something freshly herbal for just a couple of minutes in the opening (anise?), then the warm spices and white flowers rolled in. It's beautiful. The drydown, with it's combination of warm spices and sweet, creamy white flowers is sort of an olfactory root beer float (but it's never TOO sweet). This combination of citrus, nutmeg and cinnamon was what I wanted Givenchy Organza Indecence to be, but that one didn't work for me and this does (don't let the citrus + spicy put you off - this always smells like a proper frangrance and not a Christmas time room spray). I'm a big fan of warm, spicy orientals and I like that the citrus in this is adding an element of freshness that saves it from being too rich or formal. Actually, for me, it would be a perfect daytime counterpoint to something like Coco. Eyeing a full bottle now.

Ah...Cimabue...how to describe you, you spicy little minx? I'm reminded a little of Gingembre, in that both are all about the spice notes, but while Gingembre is a Diva -"just call me Ginger, baby!" - Cimabue is more like the classic barbershop quartet ... a harmony of different spice notes all singing in unison, and perfectly on key. Cimabue was supposedly developed as a result of someone asking DSH to make a scent that smelled like L'Artisan's Safran Troublant. To my amateur nose, it is nothing like it. The saffron is not dominant, and it is deeper, darker and definitely more complex. I like it immensely, especially when it is cold outside and I feel the need to have a "warm" scent on my skin.

Now and then something comes along that speaks directly to your heart, making you write a review as clever as a teenager just discovering love. Welcome to mine: Saffron here is delightful, gentle use of spices & honey making this a sweet experience boarding on gourmand while flowers and fruit adds natural & fresh notes keeping this safe from being any cake. It's a perfume. And one that fits together like a perfectly tailored dress out of finest natural material. This is what you wear on a winter wedding. Might be your own. Its the feeling of smiling while having tears in your eyes - just because life sometimes is so incredible beautiful.

Opens with a beautiful, fresh, dark orange cream, which quickly heats up with soft but rich spices. I detect jasmine, saffron and rose in the heart, and when it's cool, I get a lot of carnation and spicy clove too. When it's warm, the sweet flowers seem to create a stronger fusion and really envelop and soften the earthy spices. The base notes are luscious and develop into a warm, ambrosial powdered honey, freckled evenly with interest throughout. This is a deliciously appropriate fragrant tribute to the pioneering Byzantine artist, Cimabue--multi-dimensional and emotive, and playing up the drama found in nature.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is a synesthete and her fragrances often have a color to them. Cimabue is a deep yellow topaz with hints of pale rose pink. It opens with rose, subtle neroli, a hint of lemon or orange (like sweet Meyer lemon juice, not sharp at all) and is softened by a heart of saffron, beeswax, vanilla, and warm spices like cinnamon. The vanilla that grounds the fragrance is luminous and light, not a gourmand vanilla, and merges seamlessly with the resinous base notes. The overall sensation is very light and luminous with the top notes shimmering above the smooth, creamy heart and base.

A beautiful, saffron-centered spicy scent that smells like a sweet, milky, vanilla and spice infused drink. Long-lasting and elegant, this scent seems like it could be a good "easy reach" scent for winter months. The musky/animalic notes are woven into the scent structure well.

"Cimabue (pronounced chim-ah-boo-ey) was the artist to bridge the opulence of Byzantium with the insight, knowledge and brilliance of the Florentine Renaissance." Opulent. Enigmatic. Beguiling. Very much a spiced cake. There is a bit of a leathery/smokey feel that almost reminds me of the boozy/bar kind of fragrances I love but it doesn't veer to hard in that direction. It remains quite soft, feminine and delicate. It's a sweet gourmand that is quite pleasant, warm, comforting. Very appropriate for the fall and winter, very seasonal. Although I think it's lovely, I do prefer the first hour over the dry down myself, as it is quite sweet (not a candy sweet, more like a thick honey sweet). 7/10

This is a warm, sweet, spicy, honey-like scent that is comfortable to wear. At first the cinnamon is the dominant spice, accompanied by a lovely citrus combo, but the cardamom and nutmeg quickly join in. Whatever flowers are in there are perfectly blended so that they’re a vague impression, not a clear picture. The combination of spices, honey and vanilla makes this a warm, almost gourmand scent. Wearing Cimabue makes me feel like a bee that’s been gorging herself on honey out for a flight over a field of flowers on a warm, sunny day. The scent lasts a reasonable amount of time, especially for a natural perfume.

Cimabue is such a warm and lovely fragrance, it truly does smell like Christmas cookie baking with nice spices. I really am enjoying sampling this house and trying fragrances that are all or mostly naturals, such as this one. The smell cannot be beat. It does need time to warm up on the skin. Now longevity is a bit disappointing, but I’m finding that I enjoy using perfumes from DSH as bedtime scents and for that purpose it is perfect.

this starts off with a sweetish blast of lime and maybe bergamot. it smells like some sort of liqueur-soaked dessert to me. it's kind of comforting and a bit sweet for me but i still like it.

Complex gourmand. Predominant accord is orange, cinnamon, and vanilla. Very nice. Stronger sillage and longevity for this house.

This is a warm, spicy gourmand scent, the sweetness is perfect for me. It reminds me of a spice cake! Orientals lovers will probably enjoy this. The opening is lemon, then becomes a bit powdery with nutmeg, and cardamon, then after a time it changes into the warm saffron. My grandmother had an oriental type of body powder that could have came with her perfume I'm not sure which one it was, the opening reminded me of the powder my grandmother would have on her dresser! The cloves gives it an medicinal edge, bear with me here, there is some sort of sweetness from a dates/raisins/figs notes. I see tuberose, jasmine and rose listed in the pyramid, but it is blended so smoothly I am not able to detect it. The drydown is a creamy blend of cinnamon and sandalwood. I applied this in the morning (spray vial) and now it is in the evening the longevity is about 5 hours but the sillage is soft on my skin. For nostalgia reasons, I ordered a bottle of this from the official website right way! I read on a perfume review blog that the perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz was asked by a client to make a perfume similar to her beloved Safran Troublant (I believe that it is discontinued) and Cimabue is the result of this. I need to find a sample of it just for the experience.

In Sweden we make a special kind of ginger cookies for Christmas (you can buy them at IKEA). Sometimes they are round or heartshaped. When baking them at home we stamp different kind of figures and after baking we decorate them with sugar icing. Cimabue smells exactly like the uncooked dough; spicy and sweet. There is a delicious note in cimabue too, like a fruity floral note that adds to it in the top and heart, that is really lovely! But its obvious spiciness makes it very hard for me to wear. I feel like I need to change personality in order to do so. Lovely but not for me.

I get mostly saffron, cardamom, honey, vague mixed florals, and just the right amount of vanilla in this one. Interestingly, when I first tried it about two years ago, I didn't smell much of anything except cardamom. Subsequent wearings have been much more nuanced, and now I love it and have a full bottle on my want list.

Spicy-creamy-sweet gourmand, beautifully composed, probably with many natural materials, as is typical for this perfumer. Definitely recommended for the gourmand lovers. (Unfortunately I have a hard time loving sweeter perfumes, so this one's not for me.)

Got this in a bevy of samples. I didn't really smell any citrus in this, more of just warm spices. It reminds me of BPAL's Morocco, but I think I like this scent more - it is sweet, but not too cloying after a few sniffs. Yummy!

Cimabue starts like a big dollop of honey on white florals for me. The creamy vanilla and citrus are in the mix, and some spices slowly come to the fore over time. This is a pretty and unexpected combination for me.